The present invention concerns a movement transformation system applied to at least two rotary assemblies with non-convergent main axes, allowing the transmission of an angular displacement of at least one component of the first rotary assembly to at least one component of the second rotary assembly.
In a configuration such as this, the contacts to be controlled are multiple, as are the positions of the lever's mechanical components. Some functions may need to take place simultaneously, while others are totally separate. The combination of mechanical positions and electrical commutations must however be basically such that the mechanical movements of each of the lever's components are prevented in most cases from interfering with the electrical effects generated by the other components.
In view of the mechanical complexity of the connections, this constraint may cause problems when installing electrical connections. Indeed, each component has its own electrical recognition system for the mechanical position it occupies, forming a cluster of information transmitted to connectors and then to the control devices of the above-mentioned receivers, i.e., the bulbs of the lights referred to above.
To date, angular displacements of levers have for example been controlled by slide blocks on electrical tracks. Linear movement of a block is thus triggered by a spindle equipped with an end finger cooperating with the said block and transmitting the movement imparted to the control lever in the form of a linear displacement.
The electrical switching system of the radial collars of these levers relies on the cooperation between rotary blocks and conductive copper tracks on the collars, the signals of which indicate the relative position of the collar in relation to the lever and are transmitted by wires to a connector providing the link between the lever housing and the vehicle dashboard.
The existence of wire connections generally reduces the reliability of the devices. In addition, assembly/dismantling operations entail the risk of breaking conductors, which are also subjected to mechanical stresses during these operations, and are thus liable to result in joints being broken.
If the number of conductors is small, the risks involved are not very serious. However, the current trend is to add more and more functions to hand levers under the steering wheel, resulting in increasingly complex control levers. Thus the existence of a second radial collar in principle doubles the number of joints, wires, etc.
Consequently the number of parts increases, as does the complexity of the assembly and, the risks of malfunction due for example to a poor connection, a broken conductor, or any other problem of this kind liable to affect joints, conductors, or even the mechanical components themselves used in these assemblies.
Increasing the number of functions provided by hand levers necessarily poses a switching problem: these hand levers are sophisticated switches operating according to several types of mechanical connections and subjecting the corresponding electrical connections to different stresses.